BYU Women's Conference - April 2011

I found this post in my drafts!

 (Ooops!)

So to add to the pictures... here is a recap :D

I was SOO tickled to be invited to join my dearest friend Amy and her Mom and friends at BYU's Women's Conference this year!

Campus was BEAUTIFUL!

After tons of late snow fall... the sight of spring flowers was food for the soul all by itself!

Like my Ma's always says... "Look at his happy face!"

Love these little happy flowers!

BYU Women's Conference Theme was

"By Small and Simple Things Are Great Things Brought to Pass"

Conference started at 9 am Thursday morning at the Marriot Center with an amazing talk from Virginia Pierce (Pres. Hinckley's daughter).

AMAZING. My thoughts I wrote down were:

•  Keep it Small. Keep it Simple. Give it Time.
• Prayer rests on the principle of faith - and it is an expression of our agency.
• We need God.
• We can find joy in adversity when we know it brings us to Christ.
• Temple attendance can change us, and brings us peace.
• If you don't get an answer to prayers, move forward! God trusts you! He won't let you go too far on the wrong path.
• Tender mercies are gifts from God ~ messages of His love for you.
• Prayer calls down the power of Heaven.
• Find our will IN His... that is the key.

After that we could go to a dozen or so classes for the next 90 min blocks.

There were so many wonderful class sessions! It was hard to choose!

Amy and I headed out onto campus and ended up in a class called

"Courageous Parenting: "Be strong and of a Good Courage; Be Not Affraid" (Joshua 1:9)

A few of my favorite thoughts from that class were:

•  As parents, we need to love our children enough to allow them to make choices and endure the consequences, positive or neagtive!
• We cannot excuse our children from experiencing hard things and expect them to develop character.
• Establish the "fabulous five" in your home: (1) Family Prayer (2) Family Home Evening (3) Family Dinner (4) Regular 1on1 Interviews (5) Family Scripture Study. I loved it even more when she referred to the above as "Eternal Traditions" - that they are are important for children just as any other family/holiday traditions. And something about calling them "Eternal Traditions" makes them seem more easy to want to do! LOL 

Our next class we found was
"Sisters Who Have Made Convenants with God... Are in for the Long Haul"
Here we learned about:

• "Being brilliant in the basics" (Julie Beck's talk)
• The scriptures are our sacred workbook.
• We need to be believing - "We make things holy by giving them to God" (Brad Wilcox)
• "Don't pace up and down in our cell of circumstance."
• Walk uprightly - When we keep the commandments we are happy, when we don't we aren't.
• Consider this when investing our time: Who's agenda does this support? God's or Satans. What will I give up to feel the Spirit?
• Keep your covenants, for God keeps His!
• The Holy Ghost comes without drama.
• God will fight our battles if we let Him.
• It is our responsibility to look for the sun in our lives!
• Evidences of the past show assurances of the future - God WILL show His love.

After that class, we headed back to the Marriott Center for the next class and some lunch. We each got a sandwich from BYU Catering. Oh my! I got a Turkey Cranberry on Multi-grain bread that was like a little slice of heaven!! *grin*

Our next classes in the Marriott Center were great! It was taken from the talk by Pres. Ezra Taft Benson, "The Best Measure of Greatness Is How Christlike We Are" given by Kathy Clayton
She was followed by Sister Elaine Dalton. Some things I took from this session were:

• There are NO ordinary people.
• Charity is a spiritual gift.
• It is a condition or state of the heart.
• Don't give up, don't get discouraged!
• SHARE THE LOVE inside you!

The Final session of the day was titled

The Legacy of Relief Society by John S. & Susan W. Tanner.

There were only a few things I wrote down during this session, as this was my first big outting since recovery and my handwritting was getting hard to do. So here are the nuggets from this one:

•  God knows us. There are things we need to do. People we need to help.
• "Hold your tongues - a little tell will set the world on fire" (D&C 25)
• "What comes next for willing hands to do?"
• "Welcome the task that takes you beyond yourself!"
• "If your labors are acceptable to God - you should never be discouraged"
• Most of the most noblest spirits ever on earth were women - Eve, Mary, Eve's faithful daughters.
• Testimony amid trial = our greatest treasure!

After the concluding session for the day, Amy and I went to the Service Stations they had available. We helped make newborn caps for the Humanitarian Services. It was HUGE! I have never seen so many women doing such great things all in one room - huge room. LOL It was really neat! They also had Sharing Stations - these amazing booths where other Sisters share their ideas for Relief Society meetings, Family Home Evening and even personal learning and growth! It was FANTASTIC!

We went to dinner at Brick Oven. OH YUM! Heaps A Pizza with their homemade rootbeer! *sigh* Just thinking about it makes me hungry! LOL

Then we met with Amy's mom and her friends at their hotel room and enjoyed some treats and visited for until almost 9:30 pm. It was SOO much fun! They were telling me that in the very room we were eating in (top floor snack/breakfast bar) they had seen Pres. Utchdorf that morning! They didn't say hello because he was getting his breakfast. I scolded them... hello? A quick handshake would have been really neat! The room was no bigger than my familyroom/dining/kitchen area! It's not like you would be "mobbing" him! *giggle* So... they got to "eat breakfast with Pres. Utchdorf" Bwahahaha!

I came home so spiritually fed I felt like I was glowing! What an experience!!!! I couldn't wait for the next day!

FRIDAY APRIL 29th

Our morning session was given by Julie B. Beck. She is amazing! I just wanted to go down and hug her! LOL My favorite thoughts were:

• Sometimes the messages we are asked to give are gifts.
• The word "relief" means "lifting up".
• R.S History strengthens and supports our identity as a daughter of God.
• Am I alligned with Heavenly Father's role for me? We cannot give our responsibility away!
• Entitlement - Who owes who? Jesus gave ALL (Luke 10)
• Through our difficulties we learn.
• No longer "I can do hard things" - change to "I DO hard things!"
• Faith is how the Lord heals us.
• With faith our difficulties become our opportunities.
• Go to the temple and pay attention!
• It is our  MY responsibility to make sure our home is blessed by Preisthood power every hour!
• Dont just accept He has a plan - LIVE IT.
• Until the R.S. History is in your heart, you won't be as strong as you can be.
• Go forward when you are tired! Think of the Savior's life.

I could have left after that session and been filled all day... but we had a full day's docket ahead of us! We walked over to the new Hinckley Alumni Center and attended:
"Preventing our Strengths from Becoming our Weaknesses" (taken from Dallin H. Oaks talk)
Here we learned that Satan can tempt us through our strengths as well as our weaknesses...

• Heavenly Father leaves many of our choices to ourselves; If we don't receive guidance, use our best judgement.
• Scriptures give us answers.
• Our expereiences with personal revelation need recorded and reviewed, and cherished!
• Excess of giving can be a weakness as well... "see that they are done in wisdom and order" with the proper TIME and MEANS. - Look to our husbands and Priesthood leaders for direction (D&C 104:14-16)
• Learned can become prideful - listen to the counsels of the Lord.
• Don't be like a gold fish in the bowl - unaware of changes of water and food - confess God's hands in all things!
• Love and tolerance are good - but incomplete unless based on true principles. Use love AND truth. *Dont try to bend the commandments to "accept" - "my love for you is not based on behavior". Use humilty! There's a difference between "tolerate" and "tolerance" - real love doesn't support destructive behavior. 
• Pride is a universal sin - Ask God daily "Lord... is it in this that I am proud?" Repent as needed.
• We can never have enough of what we don't need - it will never satisfy us.
• How else can God get our attention without guilt and misery?
• Become as a little child... humble, meek, submissive.
• Satan means to destroy us - he will approach us through our greatest strengths. (D&C 84:43)
• Our strengths are GIFTS from God!
• Are you carrying it to extreme?
• Callings come and go - Family is 1st priority!
• The quality of humility is the greatest protector (D&C 112:10)

After this session, Amy and I headed back to the Marriott Center for the rest of the afternoon (I was starting to wane - so we wanted to conserve energy for fun later in the day)

We stopped at the little booth and got us some Cafe Rio Salads (oh yeah! YUM!) and headed into enjoy the last of the 12:30 session. We were able to listen to most of the first speaker - but I couldn't take notes - luckily they have it online "Visiting Teaching: Making a Difference by Small and Simple Means " It was delightful! Then I was so tickled! We caught one of my favorite speakers next!

Mary Ellen Edmunds

She spoke on Visiting Teaching as well. Here are the little nuggets I took from her talk:

•  The Lord expects us to increase our offering!
• We will never be asked to do something "stupid" or unnecesary.
• Why does He let us help? "As Sisters in Zion..."
• PEOPLE are more important than programs!
• Open your heart, and shut your mouth.
• Why visit teach? "I know not... save the Lord commanded me."

After this session, we went out and got ourselves some candied almonds and kettle corn. What a fun treat! We came back in and enjoyed a session on "I Did Frankly Forgive Them" by the Osguthorpes. It was one of my favorites!

• Anger is dangerous - It almost always leads us to do something we will regret.
• "Frankly" means to be free, unburdened, unrestricted.
• Cycle: Rebeled - Grieved - Corrected - Became Angry - Hearts Softened - Pled - Forgave - Rejoiced.
• Cool down period... leads to softened hearts.
• We need to develop a forgiving heart - frankly forgive!
• They shared the amazing video of Chris Williams and his story of forgiveness (if you don't look at any of my other links - check this one out!)
• Would I forgive so instantly?
• Do I have to think it over?
• Forgiving heart is a way of being!
• *Make yourself a "To-Be" list instead of a "To-Do" list
• See things through others eyes
• Never shift blame
• When angry - dont place reaction on the PERSON (ever) only on the situation.
• You don't hate a person - you just don't understand them.
• Listen - See - Love - Forgive
• A forgiving heart requires perspective taking - see people how God sees them.
• Forgiveness does not mean we ignore evil!
• No excuses - Forgiveness is a CHOICE - a self-forgetful choice. Decide to follow God's path - Our desire will increase.
• Forgive over and over and over again.
• Act - don't be acted upon.
• When we no longer can be offended we will find peace and a forgiving heart!

Good stuff huh??

The last session was a real treat!! We sang "I feel my Savior's Love" and then we got to hear Elder and Sister Bednar. LOVED IT! Sister Bednar spoke about the importance of taking care of ourselves to be able to be our best: Go to bed early - Arise early - we will be invigorated mentally. Exercise. Eat Well.  Scriptures. Prayer. Small and Simple Things!

The place was packed!

I felt humbled to be surrounded by so many wonderful women, my sisters, seeking guidance and direction from our Heavenly Father.

It was a choice realization.

Elder Bednar taught us the following nuggets:

•  Patterns help us! Small and Simple Things are Patterns.
• He told the story of Gustafus Perry - from Perry Utah: he had us guess in our minds how many decendants Bro. Perry had in 7-8 generations. (In my mind I guessed 300-400) He has 10,000 righteous decendents because he lived a gospel centered life! Enough for 3 church Stakes! (wow!) He lived by small and simple things!
• He shared the story of how the organ on Temple Square came to be. By small and simple things.
• Small and Simple things are like a drip irrigation vs. flooding... We all need a gospel "drip" in our lives. Steadiness is better - consistency.
• He told the story of the 10 virgins.
• Deliberate consistent performance fills our lamps!
• We need to become deep intelligent drippers, not spiritual spurters.
• He then gave us a blessing: According to our desires we are blessed with eyes to see and a capacity to press forward in small and simple things to bring great things to pass.

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

Here is "Mom" and her friends :)

And Amy and I after it was over! (I was so sad to have it be over!)